Method of and agent for laying dust.



Y CLINTON E- O AR. OF'LONGBEACH, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE or BosroN. MASSACHUSETTS- I To all whom it mdy concern,-

.- 4 mm STATES HALF TO GEORGE N. PHELPS,

PATENT orrion'.

METHOD .OF AND AGENT FOR LAYING Dus'T.

Be ltknown that I, CLINTON 'E. DOLBEAR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Longbeach, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Method of and Agent for Laying Dust, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method oflaying dustand the agent employed therefor.

, As is well known, there are many mineral salts that have the property of occluding moisture. and holding it uncombined and in free condition to be yielded gradually under the action of heat by surface evaporation. To be thoroughly effective for the purpose designed, it is essential that the agent employed shall not only possess the properties defined but that these properties shall have a definite limit; otherwise under certain conditions their utilit will be nullified or completely destroye To this end it is necessary that the average deli uescence. of'the agent shall be in a state of hygrometric balance with the usual hygrometric conditions of the atmosphere-that is to say, that it shall neither give up sufficient moisture to become a dry or dusty powder nor absorb enough to become a thin liquid capable of seeping awa through the pores of the soil. As an examp e of one of these salts'magnesium chlorid may be mentioned. .If a roadway be sprinkled with this salt, as long as it remams' uncombined with the earth it will operate in an effective manner to absorb moisture and. under favorable condit ons and as re uiredto dispense itin the form of a liquid fi m or .stratum that will operate in a positive manner to keep the dust moist andprevent it from rising from any cause. In addition to the characteristics defined magnesium chlorid possesses deliquescent properties that will cause it to remain in hy roscopic balance I with the aerial moisture and to deliquesce only to such an extent as to permlt 1t at all times to retain sufficient moisture to agglomerate or agglutinate dust particles without deliquescing to such an extent to form a thin liq uid that will flow away into the under so On alarge scale, however, it will be impracticable to employ magnesium chlorid as a road-surfacing agent, as its cost would be too eat. The object of the present invention isin a ready, inexpensive, feasible, and practical- Specification of Letters Patent. 1 Applicationfiled April 26,1905. Serial No. 257.543.

'fatented Aug. 14, 1906.-

'manner and by the employment of an agent that has heretofore been a waste product to. render roadways hard, smooth, and dustless,

employed therefor, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In carrying the invention into effect there is employed as'a road-surfacing material a hy roscopic agent of limited deliquescence and one that has the property of repeatedly occluding moisture and of yielding it bysurface evaporation. The material employed for residuum or mother-liquor that results from crystallizing the salt out of sea-water and enhanced proportion of magnesium chlorid that imparts to it its hygros'copicand dehquescent properties. This agent is applied or othersuitable apparatus and operates to retainthe dust in a moist condition, but does ,not render it adhesive -or sticky like mud, this being due to the fact that the agent always remains in hygrometric balance wlth the aerial moisture. The bittern when thorcementitious surface to the roadway that in time will become hard and smooth; but it does not, however, for an extended period lose its hygroscopic properties, but will so long as any moisture .is in the atmosphere greedily absorb it and yield it under favorable condivery dry climates, the moisture supplied to the surfac ng agent is taken from the atmosphere during the night and by the action of the suns heat is drawn to the surface and dispensed during the warm hours of the day, causm the roa way to maintain a freshlysprm ed appearance. In other climates to e moisture will be supplied to the agent from rams, as well as by absorbing themoisture, from the atmosphere asabove pointed out.

novel methodof laying dust and the agent to a roadway by an ordinary sprinkling-cart oughly incorporated with the dustforms av this purpose is a waste-product, being the which is commonly known as bitter brine or bittern, a substance in which there is an 8o tions. Where the method is practiced in 1 In order to define exactly what is meant by the statement that the average deliquescence of the agent shall be in a state of hygrometric balance with the usual hygrometric condition of the atmosphere, thus to prevent complete deliquescence, the following may be stated: If the humidity of the atmosphere be 90 and free ma nesium ohlorid be ex posed directly to tv e action thereof, it will only absorb sufiicient moisture to cause it to become viscid or sticky, and even if the humidity of the atmosphere increases it will still remain in this condition or in perfect equilibrium with the moisture of the atmosp ere.

The cost of the material employedthat is, bittern-in localities where salt is crystallized will be nothing, as it is a waste product that is usually run into the sea, the main cost being the apparatus employed in dispensing it. From experiments it has been demonstrated that where a roadway has this substance applied to itsay to the extent of about one pound to the square footit will remain dustless for several months, whence it will be seen that the procedure is thoroughly practical from a commercial standpoint.

I claim 1. The herein-described method of rendering roadways dustless which consists in applying thereto a hygroscopic agent in hygrometric balance with atmosph er1c moisture.

2. The herein-described method of render ing roadways dustless, which consists in applying thereto an agent capable of deliquescing only to a pasty consistency under normal hygrometric conditions.

3. The herein-described method of rendering roadways dustless, which consistsin :1. plying thereto a liquid containing non-de iquescent and deliquescent salts with the latter in such proportions as to exercise a dominant influence.

4. The herein-described method of rend ering roadways dustless, which consists in a plying thereto a liquid containin non-deliquescent and deliquescent salts with the latter in such proportions as to cause a hygrometric balance with aerial moisture.

5. The herein-described method of rendering roadways dustless, which consists in applying thereto a solution obtained from natural brines and containing an enhanced proportion of magnesium chlorid.

6. The herein-described method of render- 'ing roadways dustless, which consists in applying thereto a liquid containing a su stantial amount of magnesium chlorid.

7. The herein-described method of rendering roadways dustless, which consists in applying thereto sea-water from which a part of the hon-deliquescent salts has been removed.

8. The herein-described method of rendering roadways dustless, which consists in applying thereto a liquid derived from natural brine and containing an enhanced proportion of deli uescent salts.

9. T e herein-described method of rendering roadways dustless, which consists in applying thereto a desalted natural brine.

10. The herein-described method of rendering roadways dustless which consists in ap plying thereto a hygroscopic agent of limited deliquescence.

11. The heroin-described method of rend eringroadways dustless which consists inapplying thereto a hygroscopic agent of limited deliquescence in liquid form.

12. The herein-described method of rendering roadways dustless, which consists in sprinkling the same with a liquid-containing magnesium chlorid.

18. The herein-described method of rendering roadways dustless, which consists in sprinkling the same with bittern.

14. A road-surfacing material having the prqperty of repeatedly occluding moisture an yielding it by surface evaporation.

15. A roadsurfacing material in liquid form containing an excess of magnesium chlorid.

16. A road-surfacing material consisting of bittern.

17. A roadsurfacing material consisting of an agent of limited deliquescence having the property of repeatedly occluding m 0isture and yielding it by surface evaporatlon.

18. A. road-surfacing material consisting of a hygroscopic salt of limited deliquescence.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.-

CLINTON E. DOLBEAR.

WVitnesses:

J. H. JocnUM, Jr., A. G. SEIPP. 

